2018 VW Atlas

Of the three Volkswagen’s we experienced recently, this 2018 VW Atlas was the most surprising. It is a new category for VW to operate in, and for it’s first offering in this segment, it is very impressive indeed. During our one week with the Atlas we were approached several times by owners of other, mostly much bigger SUV’s, who took a keen interest in the Atlas, and when they saw the quality of the car and compared that to the sticker price of a mere $34,000 they were floored. Undoubtedly we’ve brought you in some sales VW. Good job.

As said, it is a new segment for VW, but they did not go overboard on size and just aimed squarely at their competition. They seems to have first sought out what they wanted to house in this segment, how many people, what luggage, then compared that to the power train they would prefer to put in there for the right performance and fuel consumption, and based on that determined what size would be best served with that. It does offer third row seating, it does offer plenty of space for all 6-7 occupants, it does have plenty of space for luggage, it is more than powerful enough, it still is quiet even under pressure, and it is plenty big while still small enough to be easy to maneuver around.

Yet again, the fit and finish is exemplary, especially if you look at the bumper cut lines, and again the sharp creases in the body surface stand out from the rest. The car is big and impressive, but certainly not bulky. It is strong but remains elegant. It seems there was a lot of proper planning spend on building this one and the research certainly paid off. On the inside I found a good operating area for the driver with a plenty wide console without it being ridiculous like of some US competitors.The materials and fit and finish were good quality, and everything seemed to be in the right spot. Most people we had in the car were very impressed with the amount of interior space in front and rear, allowing for indeed a car load full of people or the transport of some nice bulky objects.

The price as tested was set at $34,000 and that surprised everyone. It is a whole lot of car for that price and VW certainly seem to have winner on their hands here.